Uninstalled AOL, installed 98lite to decouple IE from windows explorer, uninstalled win's IE 5.0, upgraded to IE 5.5, installed RamBooster, reinstalled AOL from a different cd - no freezes or crashes since but I am careful about not opening too many windows in Opera (because it's tab-browsing there's always a temptation to open too many pages, but it does affect win resources all the same, and with the AOL monster running, the whole thing finally goes dead).

RamBooster is the key to all this improvement - *most* window progs have significant memory leaks and even after you've closed everything you have to reboot to clear the fat they leave behind. With RamBooster there's no more need to reboot anymore.

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I am not really computer savvy, and I don't want to find out too many things about Windows, and I am not a Linux-alias-Opera fanatic, but I decidedly do not like big fat things - maybe because I can't afford a fat system to match.

A few words on Linux. The biggest problem with this supposedly great OS is that it requires tremendous re-learning of all your notions about how an OS works. Which is too much of a challenge for a non-geek (or wannabe) user. If there is something you don't understand and make a wrong move, it will crash on you and leave you alone with your thoughts.And it also requires some serious hardware knowledge because with all the no-name crap on the low-end market, all the no-name-drivers are made for Windows and never for Linux. So if you are stuck with a crappy pile of hardware, there's a good chance you won't be able to install any linux distribution on it. So really, you have to love puters dearly to bother with the Penguin.

A few words about Opera fanatics. There isn't much to say except that these people are severely obsessed with a piece of software. Sensible surfers have been switching to Mozilla recently - but since I haven't tried it yet, I don't know if it's really better or maybe just flashier in color. I've stopped worrying about browser wars ever since Opera 6.05 - which is still my preferred version because it has a good email client, is much lighter than all the later upgrades, and has good encoding capabilities (if you're not Japanese, let's say). And most importantly - I know how it works. So when it crashes I know what is wrong and how to fix it. The key for me, for I am a through-and-through low tech user, is lightness and speed.

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I am really loving BlogBuddy despite all the lack of features - colorful wbloggar will remain as a backup app.